Their press release headline reads, "Nearly 1,600 Commercial Motor Vehicles with Critical Brake Violations Were Removed from Roadways During CVSA's Unannounced Brake Safety Day." The mainstream media will just love that headline, though many news outlets will likely shorten it to something like: "1,600 Killer Trucks Captured with Defective Brakes."

While there were 1,595 trucks, tractors, and trailers put out of service for brake violations, 86.2% of the trucks inspected did not have any critical brake-related vehicle violations. That's equal to a B+ in academic grading or a GPA of 3.2. Not too shabby, I'd say, but clearly not very good in CVSA's eyes.

Each time CVSA stages one of these events, including Roadcheck, Brake Safety Day, Operation Safe Driver, etc., news emerges of all the trucks that were placed out or service by being cited for one violation or another. Trucking takes another hit in public confidence and law enforcement earns a few points for helping to rid our highways of unsafe trucks -- which is mighty useful when it comes to funding appropriations for traffic enforcement.

If you look at CVSA's historical data, vehicle out-of-service rates have been trending downard since 1991.

Source: CVSA

Compared to the past three years of Roadcheck results, this event's brake inspection numbers are better. For 2014-2016, the out-of-service number were 16.7%, 15.5%, and 18.3% respectively. With this event's 13.8% OOS rate, we're still several points better than the previous three years. Isn't that worth mentioning?

And while we're looking at historical data, CVSA's own numbers show that vehicle-related OOS rates have been trending steadily downward since 1991. The accompanying chart shows that 35% of the trucks inspected in 1991 were parked. In 2016, 21.5% were hauled off the road-- even though officers conducted about 15,000 more inspections in 2016 than in 1991.

The shaded box on the chart reads in part: "Of Level 1 inspections, vehicle and driver OOS percentages remain at record lows ..." I don't know about you, but I think that accomplishment is worth more than a footnote on a chart nobody has ever seen.

I won't gloss over the fact that 13.8% of the total number of vehicles inspected were placed out of service, but when you're dealing with something mechanical and relatively complex, I do not think 14% is an outrageous number. Nor do I think the day will ever come when that number reaches zero, or even single digits.

I'd never suggest that we slack off on the maintenance because it's never going to get much better. Rather, I'd like to see even more effort put into brake maintenance and driver training to keep those numbers as low as possible. I'd also like to see some credit given to drivers and fleet maintenance personnel for getting those numbers down.

On the Road

A tragic collision involving a bus with a junior hockey team and a tractor trailer took 16 lives. The contrite driver pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing – but should he shoulder all of the blame? Blog commentary by Equipment Editor Jim Park.

This year hasn't yet faded from the rear-view mirror, and HDT's Jim Park is already looking forward to 2019. The technology advances we have been watching over the past few years look finally to be coming to fruition, and some of those new bits will be hitting the street in 2019, some within the first few months of the New Year.

Rarely do editors get to evaluate fuel economy on test drives. On a recent three-day "Performance Tour" trip in a Mack Anthem, Equipment Editor Jim Park turned in a trip average of 9.5 mpg, with a high of 10.4 on the second leg of the trip. Read how Mack's new engine technology made that possible.

A fatal accident in New Mexico is a sobering reminder that proper reaction and proven driving techniques are key to ensuring that a truck remains under the driver's control in the event of a tire blowout — even a steer tire failure.

Nobody likes having to pay for something that once came free, but we now face a crisis-level shortage of truck parking spaces in this country. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the days of free parking are over, says Equipment Editor Jim Park in his blog.

Seven months after we were teased with a ghostly image of Tesla's ersatz electric semi, we still don't know anything substantive about it. Maybe that's all we need to know, says Jim Park in his On the Road blog.

Media outlets are reporting a collision between a driverless shuttle bus and a tractor-trailer in Las Vegas just hours after the bus was unveiled - and the truck driver was blamed. Equipment Editor Jim Park has more in his On the Road blog.

The first image of Tesla's Electric Semi seem to show exactly the wrong type of electric truck. Is this for the benefit of investors or the trucking industry? Equipment Editor Jim Park explores the question in his On the Road blog.

Someone in Stockholm, Sweden, crashed a delivery truck into a crowded department store, killing at least three. It's been described as an act of terror, but it may also have been a crime of opportunity. In his On the Road blog, Equipment Editor Jim Park asks: Are we ready to prevent or defend against such an attack?

Without a clear statement of your intentions in the form of a will, the state might make these decisions for you, or decide how to divvy up your assets – possibly including your truck if you're an owner-operator. Jim Park blogs about why drivers (and others) need to give this some thought.

Anyone who says all the fun has gone from trucking has never been to Rodeo du Camion. It's a trucking event like no other, where drivers pull 45-ton loads of 2x4 lumber up a 12% grade in pursuit of a few thousands dollars in prize money. Jim Park has more in his On the Road blog.

What we learn from sessions like TMC's Fleet Forum is that you probably aren't the only truck owner having a particular problem. It puts the boots to the oft-heard comment from dealers, "Gee, I've never heard that one before."

It's official, finally; hours of service is going electronic. In his On the Road blog, Equipment Editor and former driver Jim Park tells fleets and owner-operators to prepare now for a cut in productivity and make the necessary adjustment to your operation while you still can.